family Advent calendars and traditions

It's that time of year again. When I try to come up with creative, fun little ways to celebrate the Advent season.

I've blogged about various Advent calendar ideas in the past:

* Advent calendar crazy
* Advent calendar ideas

Last year we had a photo Advent calendar.

And there are just so, so many wonderful ideas online. Like:

1. Hallowe'en candy wrapped up, one for each day of Advent.

2. Small treats in 2 regular muffin tins = 24 days, 1 mini muffin tin = 24 days, with covers attached on each opening that you peel off as the days go by.

3. A tell-the-nativity-story calendar with items that remind kids of the various pieces of the Jesus Christmas story.

4. The one-bottle-of-wine each day of Advent calendar. Adults only.

5. Another idea I had was to take some moments of quiet every day - as a family. Maybe we'll reward ourselves with a chocolate afterward. I don't really need more ideas to busy myself up. I'm really good at that already. I need ideas for how to clear some space to wonder, reflect on the year, anticipate what's coming, and wait for the light.

Advent Wonder is what I'll be reading each day Monday and Friday throughout December. I really loved their Lent stuff, and I'm looking forward to these little free nuggets too.

What are your Advent traditions?